A Little Matchmaker
by Zoogami
Summary: Everyone trusts Quatre with their deepest secrets. So what happens one night at a 'casual dinner party' when the Magunacs get him drunk??? *Shounen-ai* and no, I'm not telling you who! Read and Review!
1. Mistakes and Drinks

Disclaimer: No I don't own Gundam Wing...darn it. Wish I did, but, hey, don't we all. Please don't sue me! I think this is a fairly original story, but I am not responsible for any bruised egos. I warn you: I wrote most of this while listening to A Hard Days' Night ( JUST DON'T ASK!) and taking swings from a very large can of root beer. So there's a bit of humor thrown in. WARNING: This contains yaoi so....Deal with it! I like constructive criticism, but anti-yaoi flames WILL BE LAUGHED AT. Thank you. Love and llamas for all. READ ON!

****

Matchmaker

Part 1 - By Zoogami

****

Summary: Everyone trusts Quatre with their deepest secrets. So what happens one night at a casual dinner party', when the Magunacs get Quatre drunk?? Let the problems begin! He spills some rather sensitive things....... *YAOI*, though I won't tell you who. This will NOT turn into a deathfic, so don't worry. Be nice, it's my first fic!

A braided teenager looked up at a rapidly darkening sky and sighed, his breath coming out in a cloud of faint white. Jumping up and down a little, and trying not to drop the bag of groceries he was carrying, he pressed the doorbell of the mansion again and again. 

" C'mon, Quatre! " He whined, good-naturedly. He understood that his friend's house was huge, but could he please hurry it up and let Duo in? "C'mon, open the door!" Finally, his wish was granted and one of the large double doors opened to let him enter.

" Man, it's about time! Do you have any idea how cold it is out thrrrr...." He stopped mid sentence when he noticed who had opened the door for him. Heero Yuy stood there, leaning against one of the decorated archways of the front hall, giving the impression like he wasn't in the mood to hear Duo babble on and on. Not that he ever did. His dark blue shirt set off the cobalt orbs of his eyes, his unruly brown hair shining in the bright light from the chandeliers. All Duo could think of was how _good_ Heero looked standing there, and was glad that his cheeks were already flushed from the chill night air, that they hid the blush he felt creeping up.

" Did you get the stuff?" Heero said bluntly.

" Yeah, yeah, stop interrogating me! The way you guys go on, you'd think you all work for OZ or something!" Duo grinned broadly at his own joke. 

Heero didn't smile.

Duo saw his comrade's stony look and his face darkened. 

" Well, you're no fun." The comment was practically mumbled. He sighed again, deeply, his braid winding behind him like a gentle snake. 

" I'm not supposed to be having fun." Heero's voice was as monotone as ever. Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero and practically jogged up the stairs, his chestnut mass of hair bouncing along with him.

***

A mere half-hour later, Heero was back in his room upstairs. Not bothering to flick the lights on as he passed by the switch, he collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes.

He regretted how he had used such a harsh tone. 

_Why am I so indifferent, even to the person I love_? He was so frustrated, though he didn't let it show. Sure, he'd had a crush on Duo for the longest time, but he knew Duo didn't feel the same way. Duo who always had a joke, who could make even _him_ feel a little better. The silly voices that always crackled over the comm unit during MS flights, the serious face of his dark angel in battle. He thought for the umpteenth time how they had met; Duo had shot him, twice. It almost made him want to grin, but the Perfect Soldier never smiled. 

_I'm not perfect._ He thought of how Duo had twisted his sensuous lips into a look of hurt, and Heero's only thought was how much he wanted to kiss those beautiful lips.......

Someone was knocking at the door.

" Heero?" Quatre. Heero didn't bother to reply, only wishing that he could be left alone to indulge in his fantasies. 

The muffled voice continued. 

"Heero, are you there?" Groaning, he pulled himself up and rubbed sleep out of the side of his face.

"It's open, Quatre."

A line of light spilled over the dark floor and the friendly blond entered. Squinting through tired eyes, he could just make out the other boy's silhouette. 

" Just glad I'm not Relena, ne?" Quatre's attempt at a joke was met with an impassive death glare. " I was just wondering if you were going to come down or not."

" Huh?" Heero had completely forgotten about the little dinner party' the other Gundam pilot had planned for that night. " No."

Quatre was taken aback. Sure, Heero had never been the social type....but there was something genuinely wrong with the way he had refused. He sounded...upset.

" What's wrong?"

" I don't think you'd understand."

" Really, Heero? Try me." Quatre saw the taller boy raise his head and look at him.

" I don't feel like sitting through another evening of watching Duo flirt with everybody, and thinking about what I can't have. Because if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to do that up here, in the dark, alone." It was said in a complete monotone, but the message of the statement was clear enough.

" What? Oh....OH!" Quatre's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He'd known it! He'd known that Duo was wrong when he said that he didn't think Heero cared for him back! After weeks of listening to that braided baka's romantic angst, he was finally going to get to play matchmaker! " You like Duo?"

An answer wasn't even needed. 

" Don't worry about it. I understand, believe me."

" No. You don't." Uh oh. His voice was more subdued than usual, less commanding.

_ That must have been really hard for him to say._ Quatre thought. Secrets could be deadly if you kept them bottled up inside. 

" Why do you think me and Trowa always share a room?" 

There was silence for a few moments. 

" You...and he..?"

Quatre nodded, his cheeks getting redder by the second. " Are you ever going to tell Duo?"

"I can't." 

The opportunity was too good to slip up. " Heero, go down to the party, I'll be there in a second...just..just hold that thought!! "

" Quatre, don't tell anyone." But the words were whispered, and Quatre was already out the door.

Quatre jogged through the house, his mind racing. He couldn't have told Heero that Duo liked him, too. He'd promised Duo he wouldn't tell anyone, and it would be wrong to betray that trust, no matter how much he wanted to. He would just have to tell Duo how Heero felt, and let Duo take it from there. 

Now, where could that silly pilot be? Quatre had already checked the party downstairs, and Duo's quarters. The only place left would be curled up in the cockpit of Deathscythe Hell, in the mansion's underground hangar. He headed down.

When he got to the hangar he shuddered. It was freezing down there,..but then again, he knew Duo could, and would, sleep through anything. The cockpit of D-Hell was even colder. Where was he? A folded piece of paper lying on the pilot seat caught Quatre's eye. Picking it up, and realizing it bore some weight, he brought it over to the light to examine it.

It was a photograph, worn and faded, the creases showing it had been looked at many times. Inside was a small object....Duo's cross necklace, the one he never took off. Moving the little gold thing out of the way, Quatre wasn't surprised to find the picture was of Heero. The face was set in it's usual unrevealing expression, but the eyes showed warmth, laughter. Quatre barely remembered when this picture was taken; it had been months ago. 

***

_It had been a rainy summer day, and there were no missions. The five Gundam pilots had been sitting quietly in the library, reading and playing chess, with the exception of Wufei and Duo. Suddenly, the former silence was shattered._

" NO, MAXWELL!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" The Chinese pilot of the Altron had come running in, followed by his grinning pursuer. 

" Come on, Wu-man!! I just want to take a picture of you actually smiling!!" 

"INJUSTICE!!" Wufei had yelled .

" Will you guys stop it?" Trowa had demanded of them, concentrating hard on his next move.

" Fine." Duo had put the camera down, defeated. Then he saw Heero sitting in a nearby chair, reading a book. " HEY, HEERO!!! SMILE!!!" He had yelled and taken a 

picture.

Then, Heero, who had actually been trying to keep up his soldier image and not to laugh at Wufei, had stood up and pushed Duo away, hard. He hadn't meant to, it had just been a reflex. But instead of making a joke and brushing it off as he normally would, the braided boy had stumbled out of the room silently. Heero had simply sat down and picked up his book again.

Concerned about Duo, Quatre had followed only minutes later. He eventually had found him, sitting in his Gundam's pilot seat, toying with the old camera and being quieter than Quatre had ever seen him. 

" What's wrong?"

" Oh, nothing." The American had said too loosely." I'm just wondering about stuff."

" Like what?"

" Like, why doesn't Heero like me?" Duo looked down from Quatre's gaze, his thumb sliding over the smooth plastic casing of the camera.

" What do you mean?"

" I mean, I like him."

" As a friend?"

Duo turned the color of a tomato. " Not exactly."

Although it had surprised Quatre a little, in some ways he had already known it. So, Duo liked Heero. That explained a lot of things. " What makes you think he doesn't like you?"

" It's just...I don't know...the way he always shoves me away and tells me to shut up."

Quatre had grinned. That was how he had sort of felt when he first realized he liked Trowa. He had thought that everything negative was directed at him. But he knew now that that was an illusion of the mind, a deception of loving someone. 

" Maybe he's just afraid of how he feels." 

Duo almost mocked his voice."Uh, maybe not."

" If you don't want to believe me that's okay, Duo. But I honestly think you're wrong."

" Really?" He seemed so full of hope that Quatre had to resisted the temptation to roll his eyes.

" Yes." 

" Thanks....even if you don't mean it. And Quat, do me a favor?"

" Sure."

" Promise me you won't tell anyone." His eyes were so full of trust that no one could have refused.

" I promise."

***

Now Quatre deeply regretted that promise. And where was the boy who should be slumped casually in the pilot's seat, looking at this picture? 

" Good evening, Master Quatre." The energetic voice startled him.

" Oh, Abdul. You scared me for a moment."

" I'm very sorry, Master Quatre. Is there anything I could help you with?"

Quatre sighed, then busied himself with wrapping the necklace around the photo,

stuffing them both in his pocket. " It's alright. I don't suppose you've seen Duo around?"

" I saw your braided friend leave for the party a few minutes ago."

Another sigh escaped the blond Arabian. He had so wanted to catch Duo alone, but now he would have to wait. He just wondered desperately to the universe why his friends couldn't work out their own troubles. 

" Master Quatre, if I may say so, you look like you're under a lot of stress."

This made Quatre grin. " You don't know the half of it, Abdul."

" Well, you know what I do when I'm under a lot of stress?"

" No, but I could definitely use something to help me relax a bit."

" Alright, well..." Abdul brought out a glass bottle from the folds of his tunic, which appeared to have water in it. He screwed open the top, took a swing, and held it out to his young master. The smell of alcohol omitted from it, strongly.

" Abdul! We...I can't! You know that's against Muslim code!" To this Abdul merely shrugged and took another swing.

Suddenly Relena's voice was heard screaming Heero's name above them. Quatre felt Duo's discomfort, Trowa's anxiety, Heero's frustration, Wufei's...well...just Wufei. Everyone's thoughts and emotions were swirling around in Quatre's head, a tornado that threatened to consume him. 

Quatre put out his hand in a determined manner. " Abdul, I need that more than you!"

Meanwhile, ten minutes later, Trowa was getting concerned. It wasn't that he minded how he to sit next to Noin. It wasn't that he was getting sick of watching Heero and Duo pretend not to look at each other. He didn't mind the expensive foods and wine, which would no doubt make him groggy the next morning. He didn't even mind (that much) that Relena was there, although she made everyone often regret that they knew her. No, it wasn't any of these things. His beloved Quatre had said he would be right back, and that had been..what..hours ago? He'd said that he'd just go and find Duo and Heero, but they were both at the party...so where was Quatre??? Trowa's anxiety over what might have happened to his Little One was growing very intense, when a certain person raised their voice.

You guessed it. "HHHHEEEEEEEEEEEERRRROOO!!!!" If you could give Relena Peacecrap one thing, it was her timing. The look on Heero's face made Trowa cringe even though he was standing across the room. Wufei had started to laugh, but Duo was unusually silent, twirling the stem of his glass, his purple eyes looking examining the floor VERY closely. In fact, everyone looked generally ill at ease.

" That's it! I'm going to find Quatre!" Thought Trowa. He put down his drink with an uncharacteristic force that almost caused a hairline crack to appear in the otherwise flawless crystal. He walked over, tapped Duo on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

"......." Trowa emphasized. "..........!!!"

" Whoa, I couldn't agree more." Duo gave a small grin. " Good luck finding him."

"......?"

" Yeah, sure I'll hold the fort for you."

"......."

" Welcome!" The quiet boy left hurriedly. Duo's only thought as he looked at the revolting display before him was; _Q, you sooo owe me one._

Down in the hangar, Quatre was feeling a bit tipsy. Things seemed very disconnected in some way, like all the parts of his brain had turned into different pieces of Jell-O. At first he couldn't quite figure out where he was, then he knew....but at the same time he didn't know. And he couldn't stop giggling. Plus, he suddenly had the urge to blow something up. Such is it when a Gundam Pilot downs a whole bottle of Moonshine.

" Quatre! Where have you been?" A bright, round ball demanded of him. It seemed very fluffy, but at the same time sounded like Trowa.

" Oh (giggle), up and down and sideways and thingy mahoozywhoppers (giggle)."

Trowa was totally and utterly beside himself.

" Are you okay?"

" Of couuuurrrssseee, seeeeeeeee?" And Quatre began to do a little dance. " Wow, Trowa, you're very sparkle-ish tonight." 

"....?...." More and more giggling followed. " Heero and Duo showed up at the party so you can stop looking for them." Trowa offered.

Quatre stopped frolicking and looked actually serious for a moment. " They did?"

" Uh...yes."

Suddenly pieces of Quatre's brain-jello flew together and he came to a startling conclusion. " I have to tell Duooo! I was supposed to tell Duuuo that Heeeero's in looove with him!" And with this he bolted for the party room.

" What.....?....W-WAIT!!!! QUATRE!!!! DON'T!!!!" A very distraught and panicking clown followed him.

"Well, this is a perfectly dull evening. Especially with all these onnas around." The warrior known as Chang Wufei glanced at a few of the offending females, warily. It was a small get-together, the pilots and a few of their close associates; Noin, Zechs, Relena (not that Wufei considered her a close associate), Hilde, Catherine, How-

Shouts echoed from down the hall. " NOOOOOOO!!!!! QUATRE, DON'T!!!" Just as this reached their ears, the doors to the room flung open. Though them pranced Quatre, looking the worse for wear. 

He danced around the room, or, rather, stumbled. " Help me!!!! I'm being chased by a bright shiny......la-dee-da!!" He shrieked in terror, then stopped and started to giggle uncontrollably. " You seeee," the drunken blond went on, " I learned a secret....and oh, there was a promise,...but then...then...he told me not to tell." He stumbled over his own feet, and fell.

Heero could feel nervousness like an iron hand in his throat. Was Quatre talking about the promise he had made to Heero? 

The nearest people to the blonde were offering to try and help him up, but he slapped their hands away.

" I don't need your help!" It came out sounding like a chibi version of him, a little kid screaming at a group of adults. He clumsily got himself on his feet again." But YOU!" He pointed a finger at no one in particular. " YOU always need my help, don't you? Don't you?" His voice raised itself up to a scream, even louder than the last.

Duo's heart was in his throat as he listened. What if Quatre was talking about his secret?

" You alllll....." He gestured wildly. " I mean, what about Ms. Lieutenant over here?" All attention was on Noin. " Like you and Zechs shouldn't just GET A ROOM ALREADY!!!!" Both blushed and looked down at the floor. Everyone else looked on, tension mounting as they waited to see whose secrets would be revealed next.

" And Trowa! You know, I'm getting veerrry sick of all your little boy-band obsessions because I am muuuch cuter than Nick Carter!!" Trowa might have taken a swing at Quatre (even though he did think Quatre was very kawaii), had he not realized what was going on by now.

" Yes, Quatre you are." Catherine tried to help. " But you're also very drunk..."

" Not as drunk as Hilde was the night she got into bed with Relena!"

" ......"Mouths agape, everyone turned to stare at the two.

" But....oh HO-HO! It gets better." The maniac laughter continued, so forceful that it was a few minutes before he could utter anything else. But, finally, he got himself under control. Or so it seemed. 

" No, no.....please don't let him say it!" A certain Wing Zero pilot prayed to a god he didn't believe in.

" Heeeeero + Duuuuoooo!!!!" Quatre sang. The glass formerly in Duo's hand was now shattered on the floor, and his mouth was stuck in an O. But no one seemed to notice, they were all too captivated by Quatre's little performance. 

" NO!" Heero didn't want to wait around for the stares or the hate he knew he would receive from Duo. And so, when everyone was looking at the new entertainment that was his life in all its pitifulness, he slipped through the kitchen door and out into the freezing black night. 

Distracted from the horror in front of him by a noise, Duo whipped his head around in time to see Heero run out the door. His heart stopped. It felt...his chest tightened...it felt like all the blood in his body was draining out..but...but...Heero was his blood....where...was....his Blood..going? Lights swirled in his vision and the room spun, all the elegantly clad figures spinning like they were in a laundry cycle. Oh, God...help me.....help...me....blackness.....sweet blackness....Duo let himself fall into the blackness. He lost all muscle control. My blood is gone, he thought.

" Jesus! Look at Duo!" Someone yelled, but their voice was far away. Blurry arms extended to catch him, but he surrendered to the blackness before he hit the floor.

***

The rain poured down hard, harder than it had before. The sheets of icy water pounded so hard against the windshield that it made it almost impossible for Heero to see where he was driving. And yet, he kept going, driven inwardly by the desire to get as far away from the house as quick as he could. 

How could he have been so stupid? Why, oh why had he trusted Quatre? He cursed himself for thinking that he could finally tell his secret, and not get hurt. He hit the dashboard with a clenched fist. Ten times more the fool! He had thought he would be strong, strong like the dream of the perfect soldier he was supposed to be, strong like the dream of Duo's arms around him. But they were only dreams, never real. They never would be, and never had been. 

Because eventually you awaken.

***

" It's hopeless." Hilde emerged from Duo's room in the latest attempt by the other partygoers to bring Duo back to them.

" Yeah." Trowa stared out one of the hallway's windows. He'd run out into the rain to try to stop Heero, but had only succeeded in dampening his clothes as he watched one of their cars speed away.

Wufei was rubbing the back of his head. " At least he did not throw shoes at you." 

" He threw shoes at you?"

A few people pretended to chuckle, but it was no use. The situation before them was very serious, and it seemed like the one person who could have solved it all had been MIA for two days. And Duo.....

_" The person in there is not Duo."_ The Chinese's thoughts were kept to himself. Although he never seemed to be a big fan of the most energetic and smiling of the pilots, Duo was his friend. But the shaking, murmuring, crying being in Duo's body, who had not eaten or slept or come out of his room for forty-eight hours....that wasn't Duo. 

" It's all my fault! I don't think I'll ever forgive myself!" Quatre sat in the window seat. His whimpering was not helping anyone's mood.

Trowa scooted over and hugged Quatre to him. " Hush, it's okay." He glared angrily over Quatre's shoulder at Abdul, who was pretending not to be there. Stroking his angel's hair, he could only wonder, half with rage, half with worry, where Heero was.

***

As hints of pink appeared at dawn's edge, a lone figure lay sleepless in a cheap motel room. The thick plastic curtains were drawn, blocking what little light there was in the sky. The figure was sprawled on the creaky queen-sized bed, never slipping out of consciousness, never moving. He didn't see anything around him, only the image of shock and betrayal on Duo's face, playing over and over again in his mind. 

He could never go back. How could he face them? How could he face Duo, who didn't love him in return? He couldn't bear to look into those violet depths and see the contempt they must hold for him. 

Heero thought about this again and again, as he'd done for days. It was no use. Duo, his Duo, was lost to him forever. He would never again see that smile or hear that laugh, or know what might have been. 

_" BAKA, there would never have been anything, anyway." _

Never again. It was like Duo had died, he was that lost to Heero. The pain was too true this time, too much. Heero gripped his sides, his face contorted in an expression of sadness that it wasn't used to. And laying there, isolated from love, all hope gone, Heero held himself and cried. The stone that was the armor around his heart cracked and fell away, leaving fragments like those of his life. Salty tears ran down his face, but he didn't care anymore, his sobs loud and violent and full of agony, his body shuddering.

He whispered through his own sobbing." Goodbye, sweet one.....goodbye."

****

End of Part 1

Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to leave you hanging! I promise I'll post the next part soon! R+R please. Arigato -Zoogami


	2. A Lover's Dream

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing...yadda...yadda. Anything else to keep you Sunrise people from suing me? Okay, that's good. On another note: I'm not sure when this takes place so don't bug me about it. There's a funky dream sequence as a bonus, too. This part, like the last, contains YAOI, so no complaints. I'm going to say it again:

THIS HAS YAOI, SHOUNEN-AI, AND HINTS OF YURI, IF YOU DO NOT LIKE, TURN BACK NOW! IF YOU COMPLAIN ON THESE GROUNDS THE ZOOGAMI WILL LAUGH AT YOU.

Well, that being said, read on! Hope you enjoy.

Matchmaker, Part 2: A Lover's Dream

By Zoogami

Summary: Part 2 of my little saga! Quatre feels guilty, Heero's haunted by dreams. Wufei finally has had enough of Duo barricading himself in his room, and goes to find a certain Wing pilot. *YAOI* (and hints of Yuri) So no flames about that. If you're lost, then read part 1!

The door opened a crack, light spilling across the otherwise black floor in a line. Quatre slipped in, shutting the light behind him. He was determined to try, one last time. If this didn't work...He blamed himself for it all. If he had just told Duo and Heero in the first place, if he just hadn't honored that stupid promise he had made to Duo, if he hadn't taken that drink from Abdul...oh, so many things. Then Heero wouldn't have run out into the night, and braided boy who loved him wouldn't have locked himself in his room for the past two and a half days.

" This is all my fault...I need to fix this." And he would attempt to, the small blond thought inwardly. But if the dozens of other times they had tried had failed, then why would this make any difference? 

" D-Duo?" He called out cautiously, gently. 

" Go away." Came the response, cold, full of tears. 

Quatre wished he could see where the other boy was, but his eyes wouldn't adjust to the abysmal darkness as fast as he liked. " It's Quatre. I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk." Something came whizzing out of the blackness at him, barely missing his head. 

The American's voice rang through the room, sounding waiver-like and angry. 

" H-hurt me??? You won't hurt me Quatre??? You already have hurt me!!!" Another object- Quatre realized it was a folder full of papers- came at him 

from where ever Duo was hiding. 

" Duo..." Quatre thought he saw a figure huddled in the farthest corner, but he wasn't sure. 

" Don't come near me!!!" The Arabian could have sworn he sounded....

...afraid. " Don't touch me!!! I am the Shinigami...everything I touch turns to dust!!!! I destroy everything!!" 

" No, that's n - DUO!"

" LEAVE. ME. ALONE!!!! A whirlwind of papers attacked Quatre and he stumbled to the door. By the time he had opened it and moved to the other side all hope had escaped from his heart. 

" So." Zechs Marquise/ Milliardo Peacecraft sat slumped against the facing wall, hands in his lap, knees brought up. " I'm assuming you had no luck, either." It wasn't a question. 

Trowa, who had been waiting as well, felt like smacking the shit out of him; Relena's brother, or not. He had never been that violent, personally, despite his occupation as a Gundam pilot, but he was about to snap. He understood that this situation was making everyone VERY tense, but that was no reason for Zech

s, or Milliardo, or whatever the hell he called himself, to be so curt. It was especially not a reason.

Quatre noticed the maddening expression on Trowa's usually calm face and decided to sooth the volcano before it exploded. 

" No. Come on, Trowa. You look like you need a break." 

" Yeah, I guess I could." He mumbled angrily under his breath, taking a final pissed-off glance at Zechs as he walked away with Quatre. 

" How about some tea?"

The part-time acrobat could only groan.

***

Night fell as the fiery sun sunk beneath the hills, the sky growing a velvety black as the white specks that were stars stood out beyond heavy clouds. 

Hilde sat in one of the Winner mansion's numerous sitting rooms, cradling a mug of cocoa in her hands, her thumb tracing the rim over and over again. She wasn't in the mood to drink it. Instead she pressed a hand to the cold surface of the window, watching as a fog spread over the glass where she touched it. She could only think about how she had once thought she was in love with Duo Maxwell. 

" But I wasn't." She mused. " I was just in awe of him." And then she had met Relena, by chance. Relena had represented something Hilde had never known, a sense of peace. Everything about her was warm and wonderful, she had become the first real friend Hilde had ever had. 

" Well, that's gone to the dogs now!" She couldn't blame Quatre, really, as much as she wanted to. " If everyone had told me their secrets and then made me promise not to tell a soul I'd probably have gone a bit out there, too." She'd felt the effects of alcohol before, and she, like Quatre, didn't like how they impaired her. Some people weren't really effected by drinking- take Duo, or even Howard, as an example- but to Hilde, who wasn't used to it, it made her lacking in judgment. 

But in some ways it had made things more clear. One night, a month or two ago, there had been a party for Trowa's 17th birthday at one of the more clean bars in L2. Hilde was already tense when she go there, but seeing Quatre and Trowa toge

ther had upset her for some reason.....because they had love and she didn't. And so, overloaded with emotion, she had apparently drunk more than she had intended; which had been none at all. 

Then, next thing she knew, she had awoken up next to the still clothed (thank goodness) body of...Relena. They hadn't really talked about it that much, but now they were closer then ever. And both now knew what true, if unconventional, love could be like.

Hilde stared at the ceiling as if it would tell her answers. Love could be many things. And it could kill you. Hilde understood - thanks to a certain Arabian's adventure - how embarrassing it was to have that kind of secret revealed, but she couldn't imagine how horrible it must be to not have a loving response to it. It was killing Duo. 

" Please just hang in there." But only the ceiling heard her.

***

Heero was dreaming:

_Across a golden sea of sand there was _

an island. He was sailing to it on a boat made of silver crosses etched into glass, so breathless it was floating. Everything was quiet, so quiet. 

He wandered out of the boat and onto the island. There were colored flowers everywhere, and lying in their shade was Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Zechs, Catherine.....they were all there, everyone who'd been at the party, with the exception of a certain braided someone....They were covered in a glittery film, and Heero couldn't break it no matter how hard he tried. No! He couldn't let them die like that! False smiles emitted from the filmy stuff, haunting images-suddenly they all disappeared.

A scream sounded from the other end of the island. Wait, it wasn't a scream....it was Duo's voice, crying for help. Heero found he held Wufei's katana in his hand, and, not wasting a moment, cut through the underbrush of poison-colored plants. He went on and on, mindlessly, only thinking; Duo. I have to save Duo. 

Eve

ntually he reached a clearing. It was beautiful, with moss and a blue waterfall cascading over rocks into a shimmering pool below. But Heero barely noticed all that. The one thing he was focused on was the naked figure laying on a bed of the poison-petals, obviously hurt in some way. 

Heero ran up to Duo and kneeled down beside him, lifting his head up. Duo looked gorgeous, his sleek athletic body covered with dew drops and spray from the waterfall, lips crimson, his eyelashes glowing violet. Deep purple eyes opened and regarded Heero....but then the expression changed to fear. 

" No! Don't touch me! Sta-" Dream Duo's shouts were brought to a halt as Heero leaned down to kiss him. But as soon as their lips touched the sky of the dream world clouded over, became dark, and Heero could feel something wrong in the air. A flock of birds fled from the trees, screeching.

Something moved beneath his hands. It took Heero a second to realize that Duo was being pulled from him, being suffocated by thick v

ines. He had to do something. A strong wind picked up and Heero realized he held Wufei's sword in his hand once again. 

Standing, and raising the blade over his head, he brought it down and struck. The vines released Duo and Heero was relieved...until he saw that he had stabbed Duo, not the deadly foliage surrounding him. Black blood seeped from the wound in Duo's chest and a trickle of it ran from his mouth. Heero stepped back in horror. 

" NOOOO!!!!" He cradled the body to him, the blood soaking through to his skin. " NOOOO!!!!!!!!! NOOO-"

"-OOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Heero sat bolt upright in bed, screaming. He put a hand on the mattress to steady himself, his breath coming out in ragged gasps. Sweaty strands of hair hung in his eyes, but he didn't brush them away. Duo wasn't dead, he hadn't killed him; Duo was back at Quatre's house, and Heero was still in the motel room.

" No. No." He whispered. " No....it was only a dream....Duo's not dead....it just feels that way." He finished the thought in his head.

***

The Winner mansion was finally still, everyone was in their rooms sleeping, getting rest at last. Or, at least, trying to. Loud sobs echoed through the house, from rafter to floorboard, going on forever as if they were the cries of a ghost, a lost soul.

Trowa was awake, as everyone was, listening uneasily. Quatre lay awake as well, his head on Trowa's chest. 

" Oh, Allah, what are we going to do?"

Trowa stroked Quatre's hair behind his ears absentmindedly, still staring at the opposite wall. " There's nothing we can do, koi." He responded quietly. " Do you want one of us to knock on the door and say we're all very sympathetic to what you're going through, but could you please keep your sorrow down'?"

At this the blond raised his head and turned to look into the green eyes of his tall lover. " You know that is not what I meant, Trowa." 

" I know,..but there's really nothing we can....do?" There was a knock at their door. " Who-?" The knocks continued, growing more a

nd more fierce. 

" Barton! Winner! Open up!"

Trowa had gotten up and opened the door by then. " Wufei?" 

If the black-haired pilot was uncomfortable looking at Trowa clad only in a sheet, he made no show of it. Trowa, however, was not as understanding.

" What is it?"

" This...!" The Chinese boy gestured at the wall to Duo's room.

" And what do you suggest we do about it, huh?" 

Wufei shook his head. " I've had enough, I'm going to find Heero."

Trowa's eyes widened. The reason not one of them had suggested this sooner was that, knowing Heero, if he didn't want to be found, no one could find him. They knew he had left in a hurry, but still, he might be impossible to track.

" What makes you so sure you'll be able to find him?" Another sob came through the thin plaster. 

Icy dark eyes regarded him. " Anything is better than listening to him go on." He turned to go, but a voice stopped him.

" Wufei!" Quatre practically jogged over to them and him something. Trowa didn't get a good look at it, but Wufei took a glance, before nodding and putting it in his pocket thoughtfully. " I hope you find him."

" So do I." Relena had appeared at the door, dressed in a nightgown and clutching her robe around her. Wufei nodded again, then pivoted on his heel and strode towards the garage. 

***

He lay on the floor, his hands bruised and bleeding from hitting the wall so many times, limbs exhausted. 

_" And I thought only the Perfect Soldier took out his aggravation that way."_ This brought forth yet more tears, though he barely felt them anymore. They slid down his face in the familiar grooves of their predecessors, wet and salty. But the sting he felt was inside. 

He hadn't moved for God knew how long, and he had no reason to. He couldn't....his body felt so weak...broken down by the wailing that wracked his thin frame. He barely blinked, his breathing felt shallow to him. The floor felt like hours, but then again, time had always been his enemy. Everyone he fell in love with, everything he cared about, destroyed by knowing him, over time. It was a curse, his curse, the curse of the Great Destroyer, the self-proclaimed God of Death.

_" How is it that you didn't stand up to the curse, my immortal lover? How did it destroy even you? Missiles couldn't kill you, bullets wouldn't wound you, but somehow.......you're gone just by my touch...."_

Duo felt a fresh burst of crying welding up, and he didn't hold back. He hadn't the strength. 

_" I've destroyed even myself.....I'm dying....look I'm dying.....not even the Angel of Death is here to save me....." _

***

A searcher drove along the highway, cursing as drops of water hit the front window. He'd been driving for hours, spurred on by the image he had, the object of his search, burning a hole through 

the cloth of his pocket. 

He, Chang Wufei, swore he would find Heero if it was the last damn thing he ever did. He and Duo always seemed to have a tense acquaintance with each other, but they had still been friends. He had thought often that Duo was too easy going, and the braided American had felt he was too uptight, in return. But in many ways he was sorry of all the undeserving insults he had delt out to the other over the last two years or so, and had resolved to make it up to Duo. 

Now he glanced at the clouding sky with growing worry. 

_" That's all I need now...a storm."_

End of Part 2

Sorry it wasn't longer, but I felt I needed to give you all another piece soon. More to come, so keep watching for Part 3! 

Arigato, 

-The Zoogami


	3. Reunited

Disclaimer: I don't own nuttin', cept maybe some root beer....okaaay. Nor will I ever own GW. I accept my fate and move on. *SHOUNEN-AI*, suicidal contemplation, masochistic actions, Wufei's road rage, the author cutting Relena too much slack (ack!)...etc. Has happy ending, though!

I think this is the conclusion, though I would like to write an epilogue. It won't happen unless you guys tell me to! So I better get at LEAST 10 to 15 reviews/e-mails telling me you guys want an epilogue! People, it's NOT THAT HARD TO WRITE A REVIEW!!!! Two words is FINE!!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! That being said, read on, have fun!

Matchmaker Part 3: To Rescue Sanity

By Ms. Zoogami

A very, very tired Wufei was driving through blackness, along a highway. For miles around him there was nothing, just highway, and highway trees, signs, nothing else. Just darkness. 

White Styrofoam mugs were littered around the dashboard and the front seat, almost obscuring his view. He had been going like this the whole night, clear through one AM, which had been hours ago itself. But he couldn't give up now. He couldn't fail Duo the one promise he had ever made to him. Even if that braided baka didn't know about it. 

Wufei had checked the last few hotels and towns; no Heero, just strange looks. Faces whirled in the pilot's mind, but he only saw one. 

_" I have failed you Nataku."_ He thought. _" I will not fail anyone, ever again."_ Now it wasn't only a matter of saving his friend's personal health, but it had become a measure of honor as well. _" Not ever again." _

Drooping eyes glanced at the clock and barely saw it. Hints of pink and gold were breaking through the sky's edge, the dawn coming to claim the night. He didn't want to give up....his eyelids started to fall once again. He snapped his head back up to the road. Discipline he might have in spades, but even dragons needed sleep sometimes. And if he didn't stop soon he would fall asleep at the wheel.

_" Alright, just a quick rest....a quick rest."_ Five minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of the Samurai Inn. 

***

A weakened angel lay on a messy, white motel bed, his wings no where to be found. The shades were still drawn, but he raised a hand to the bulb hanging above him like it was the sun. Slowly, delicately, his thin limb gracefully ascending above his self-starved body. And at the same speed that life seemed to him, the hand unfolded almost of its own accord, revealing a metal pellet held between its thumb and forefinger. 

_" Just one."_ Heero thought to himself, chapped lips unmoving, as they had for so many days. _" One is all I need. Shinigami, God of Desperation, you found me another way."_ The Perfect Soldier was so gone that he no longer felt the tears that slid down his cheeks, blue as his eyes. 

***

The tall, plump man stood behind the bar, cleaning glasses, his beard serving as much a scrubber as the clean rag in his hand. He was staring at a solitary figure who sat on the other side.

After running a motel and cafe for most of his life, Wan Hui had grown accustomed to the strange travelers that wandered through his establishment. But none had intrigued him for such a long time, as much as the silent young Chinese man who was seated at the counter. The boy had a shaggy black ponytail and a stern face, stubborn and commanding. And he had barely touched the food that had been served to him. He sighed a deep, angry sigh, and Wan decided the time for verbal engagement was now.

" So, what brings you here, all alone?" The older man shuddered as he was regarded with icy eyes, as black as the youth's hair. 

His voice was dangerously low. " It's none of your business." 

" Oh, really?"

" Leave me alone,..or else."

The man laughed to himself. " That's two death threats in three days! I must be a wanted man!" 

Wufei's head snapped up. " W-what?"

" Yeah, you...and this other guy, about your age now that I think... about...it....." His sentence trailed off as Wufei stood up, looking like a panther ready to pounce. 

" What. Did. He. Say?" The voice was questioning, but still dangerous.

" Uh..I..uh.."

" WHAT DID HE SAY?" It was practically screamed as Wufei grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, pulling him almost over the counter. Other people looked at them, but turned away when they were met with the Chinese's glare.

Wan looked the younger boy daringly in the face. 

" Just three words," He replied quietly. " Omae o korosou."

*** 

He gathered strength from the part of him he'd thought lost, moving as though time had no consequence, at least, none for him. Then the familiar cold, smooth metal was in his hand, the grip worn to his touch from so much use. His finger slid over the grooves and flat parts, as familiar to him as himself, a mirror of life, his life. 

_" To think, this symbol of destruction is such a fitting symbol of myself...I am a gun, always to be fired, used, then tossed away until needed again. That was all I was. But you...you were the one thing that made me feel real, made me feel human."_ Laughing purple eyes loomed in his memory, the shadows of what might have been ripping him up within. "..and made me a fool in the end." 

***

_" That's Heero."_ Wufei's mind was going into overdrive. _" He was here, he was here_.....where is he now?" He hardly realized he had spoken the last few words aloud, until he was given an answer. 

" He checked in and hasn-" Wan was cut off as the youth released him, but didn't move away. "..hasn't come out of the room..."

It was too good to be true. But Wufei's inner joy was marred by the man's words. _He hasn't come out...... _

" Which room is he in?" When he didn't get an answer right away he grabbed the motel owner's shirt front again, scaring him to no end. He continued in a calm, sedate voice. 

" You are going to tell me where he is or I am going to scorch you with some nice plumes of fire before ripping your head off." His captor was more than happy to oblige.

***

Hilde paced through the hallways nervously; everything was starkly quiet in the early morning. Big as Quatre's house might be, there didn't seem to be enough places to run to, to hide in, to pace in. 

As she passed by a certain door she listened, her mind almost reeling from not having been concentrated into doing something for so long. Silence. An uneasy one at that. The sobs were slower, and muffled so it was a strain to pick them up. Yet, at the same time, you couldn't miss them.

Feeling as though her senses were sharper she bent down to inspect the food tray that was outside of Duo's quarters. It looked like it had been nibbled upon by a mouse. 

Hilde hoped with all her soul that the mouse had a long, chestnut-colored braid.

***

Wufei jogged through dirty corridors, thoughts and images sliding through his mind like his fingers through a silk cloth. Seconds....would he get there in time? Seconds....he felt the motel owner's jacket slip through his hands; the old man slumping to the floor changed to Heero falling out of Zero, Heero collapsing after a battle, Heero....fainting to the floor, a crimson-tinged hole in his skull. 

Wufei was running, running, but no matter how fast he ran, it seemed that Heero still died, kept dying, over and over...in his mind. It felt like he would never be there quick enough. _" Who knows, I may already be too late..."_ The hallway turned into oblivion, with the Shenlong pilot endlessly spinning through it.

***

The metal appeared to get colder as he held it. Not warmer like it should have been. Practiced hands opened the chamber and placed his single death inside. A coward's death. He probably would have thought that to himself. But to him it wasn't. He had no reason to live. He was lost, as once before, and now once again.

***

The glass, pure, clear, a shard of himself running over the palm. Scarlet seeped slowly from it. He watched with a kind of horrible fascination as it dripped along his life line, small branches of the wound going to all the lines in his hand. 

" You were my blood....why did you leave? All gone...they're all dead...Shinigami you're dying now...the angel can't save you...you destroyed even him..."

The stinging was in his eyes again. 

A flash.

**" Duo! It's midnight, what are you doing up?" Concerned voice, kind voice. **

" Couldn't sleep." A smaller one mumbled, long bangs falling into his eyes, the way they always would. 

" Go to bed."

He shrunk away from the offered hand. " But Sista' Helen, I just wanted to look at the angel." Silver and white moon rays flitted through the window in the dusty chapel light, illuminating like an aura around the lanky, stained-glass angel, giant white wings folded around him. 

" He's beautiful isn't he?"

A flash. 

**The scythe struck out, slashed, cut through the mobile suits standing in front of it. The green blade shimmered in the fiery explosions, its speed and grace seemingly unmatched in the universe of its pilot. The swish of Shenlong's dragons, and Heavyarms' missiles filled the air, melding with the screams of the dying and dead, burning metal, blood. The world of the Destroyer. **

Suddenly surrounded by enemies. He sliced each one, but two others got up to take its place. He yelled for some backup over the intercom, but it was obvious that the others couldn't help. A formidable Taurus came at him from above, where he hadn't noticed.....a streak of white echoed across his vision. Wing beats sounded through the battlefield, and when he looked back the Taurus was merely ash. 

A flash.

**The explosions sounded through the city, the sound itself seeming to reduce the church to rubble. Hair unbound, coming out of the band, black clothes clinging to his lithe frame as it began to rain, he ran towards the debris.**

" SISTER HELEN!! FATHER MAXWELL!!" He saw their bodies even as the words left his young lips. 

" Duo..." He ran to her, tears blurring his vision. A bloody, bruised hand raised itself to his face, then fell as she passed on. " Goodbye..." 

" No...NO!!" He choked out. He bent his little form over the corpse of the woman who had been like a mother to him, and let his crying soak into the ground. Somewhere behind them, the angel lay, shattered into a thousand pieces.

__

Running.

Breath. Breath.

Mission Accepted.

All my fault.

Please be quick.

Why can't time be slow?

Where are you?

Ai shiteru.

Goodbye.

Heero? 

_" Huh?"_ He had been ready, eyes closed, the trigger pull about to happen, the pain and release of an end he felt he deserved so near when...something made him hesitate. He'd thought he'd heard...something.....

_" D-Duo...?" _

And it was in that second of hesitation that a yell of rage sounded through the building, and Wufei kicked his door in. 

***

Wufei had been running so fast that he almost ran right past the very room he had been looking for. He knocked furiously, praying out loud and in his head that he wasn't too late, he wasn't too late...then he got fed up. Stepping back, he let out all his force in a shout, and blasted Heero's door practically off its hinges with one strong, deft kick. 

Heero, who was completely taken by surprise for once in his life, reacted in the appropriate manner: pointed the weapon at his intruder. 

" What do you want." It wasn't a question, more like a demand of why the Chinese pilot had interrupted his suicide. 

Wufei himself was a cold as ever, not even flinching at the gun barrel aimed at his chest. He saw how horrible the other boy looked; pale, and much thinner even than usual, his lips so chapped they seemed about to bleed, obvious lines in his face where tears had met with skin that had probably never felt them before. He looked, for lack of a better word, terrible. 

" I do not think it wise to shoot me, Yuy." Heero didn't respond, but didn't shoot him either. Slowly, so Heero wouldn't think it was a threat, Wufei reached into his pocket and drew out what Quatre had given to him back at the mansion. He tossed it at the stoic pilot's feet.

Heero stepped back, and let his gaze fall to where the object lay on the floor....and felt his heart in his throat. He unconsciously dropped the gun, the usual hard, unfeeling look melting from his features as he fell to his knees. Gently, as if he was afraid it would disappear with a touch, he unwrapped Duo's necklace from around a folded picture of himself. 

" No..." He whispered it to himself. 

***

Even from just watching the very out of character display before him, Wufei knew immediately how much Heero was in love with Duo. It almost shocked him to see this much emotion coming from the normally mechanical-seeming Wing Zero operator. 

" He isn't dead, yet." The last was added with a note of uncertainty. At those words, Heero pulled himself together, getting to his feet and sweeping the cross and picture off the floor in one definite motion. His face again set in its usual grim expression he grabbed his jacket and gun from a chair and started to walk past Wufei, calling back to him in a familiar, commanding voice. 

" Let's go." 

***

Relena sat against the wall, not even her regal manner disguising the heavy bags under her eyes. She hadn't slept in well...days. And, tired as she was, she wasn't going to now. 

_" Face it, isn't Quatre's fault. It's yours."_ It had been racing through her head all these nights, and not even Hilde could make it go away. _" You were the one who was always hanging on to him, practically stalking him! No wonder he could never show any of his true emotions, he was too busy trying to pry you off his arm!!"_

She'd really loved him too, but had always known that he didn't exactly feel the same way. It could have been the fact that he'd threatened to kill her several times during the war, or that he showed that he would gladly shoot her the first chance he got, that had triggered that thinking. Who knows, right? 

Either way, she shouldn't have been so heartlessly stubborn. She just wished he'd come back to all of them. She thought to whoever ran the universe; _" If you bring him back to Duo before Duo kills himself I will never, ever stalk anyone, ever again! God, I'll even destroy that atrocity of a pink limo I ride in!"_ She felt like laughing at herself. And she meant it, too. Besides, since when had she become so materialistic and annoying? Well, she'd redeem herself, alright...once she got the chance.

***

For the umpteenth time, Wufei leaned on the horn, bellowing in Chinese about injustice, a few unprintable things, and anything else unpleasant he could think up at the moment. Finally, he gave up on it, when the traffic started to move again. 

Heero sat next to him in the passenger's seat, not saying a word, not moving except to breath. His fingers were still clutched around the cross. Inwardly he cursed to himself about being so blind. He had been taught to act on his emotions, and here it was, backfiring on him. 

_" No...you loved him that much, even though you didn't deserve him...and now he's going to die for your fear. Coward. You're the Perfect Soldier, huh? But you were afraid of your own humanity."_

Wufei stole a quick glance at his silent seat mate. And, although he didn't speak, you couldn't miss the pain clouding eyes that never showed anything, never revealed anything. But just for a moment there....and then it was gone. He turned back to the road.

***

" We're here." The sound pierced through the abyss of silence that had dominated the automobile the entire trip back. It was so unfamiliar to Heero's drifting state of mind, that it took a minute for the words to register. 

" Alright." But he didn't move. 

Wufei was frustrated. He needed to get the Wing pilot to Duo as soon as possible. He needed to find a way to get Heero moving. " I never knew you were such a weakling, Yuy." 

" If you're trying to make me move, it won't work."

" Stop being such a woman." 

" Hn."

The Chinese boy felt like banging his head against the steering wheel. But he was always one who showed incredible amounts of self-discipline, so he resorted to a slightly more honorable tactic. 

" You love him, right?"

The spandex wearing passenger didn't budge.

" So go stop him before he kills himself. It would be a real shame, after I went and got you and everything if Maxwell died now. Besides," He added in a last-ditch attempt to move his stubborn comrade. " Quatre would really hate to have to clean up all that blood off of the white rug." 

Heero turned and punched him square in the jaw. 

***

When Wufei had recovered from the initial shock, he realized that Heero had gotten out of the car and was waiting under the overhang of the door for Wufei to come with the keys. The Altron pilot stepped out of the car, and started walking through the misty rain, rubbing his jaw. 

_" Well,"_ He thought in consolation to the sore artifice. _" It worked, did it not?"_ The sheets of water striking him did not help the conclusion. 

Heero stood, the space barely giving him any protection from the elements that practically tore at his poorly clad body. He hardly noticed. His mind was completely on one thing, and one thing only. 

A body brushed roughly past him, and Heero recognized it as Wufei, even in the dim lights of the porch. If Heero had been the type of person who apologized for rash actions, he would have said sorry. He wasn't.

His fellow Gundam pilot hadn't expected anything, though. He simply opened the door with a swift turn of the key, and stepped over the barrier to the inside. Heero followed him.

***

The first thing that caught Heero's focused attention was how quiet it was. The whole house seemed so still, dark. As soon as his eyes adjusted, however, he realized that it was not empty. Abdul, Rashid, and who knew how many other Magunacs lay in the front hall, below and around the staircase, fast asleep. Wufei felt like joining them. He hadn't slept since he had began searching. Then he noticed Heero heading up the stairs. 

" Yuy....?" He whispered hoarsely, as if asking if Heero wished him to follow. But the Zero pilot shook his head and continued, as Wufei had expected. Besides, that couch in the parlor looked so comfortable right then.........

Heero continued onward, passing around Noin and Zechs on the landing seat. Not far from them Trowa lay with one arsm around his sister, and the other around his angelic lover, across from them were Relena and Hilde. Even in sleep their faces all showed the same signs of worry. 

He paused in front of the white door edged in gold. Journey's end. He tried the knob, fearlessness that he showed in battle taking over his nerves. No good. That had never stopped him before. Reaching into a pocket he took out the little gold object, and used it to pick the lock. The chain fell around his hand, and disappeared from sight. Slowly, this time, he opened the door enough to slip through, then closed it soundlessly behind him.

The room was bathed in darkness, the only light coming from the moon outside, the luminous white giving some of the velvety shadows an unearthly glow. He searched with his gaze, across the shimmering pieces of glass on the floor, across the blackness of the floor itself, until it rested upon the shivering ball in the window. It looked like a large lump of shadow, but for the braid emitting from the curled-up form. Small, muffled sobs escaped from Duo, his head hidden in black-clothed folded arms, which were balanced on top of his knees. 

" Who are you?" The voice wasn't like anything Heero had ever heard from him, utterly without joy, without hope. A voice of someone who's heart has been broken, pieces scattered like the fragments of a mirror. " Who's there!?" The head lifted, the beautiful face edged in silver light, the indigo eyes full of a deep sadness. " Y-you...."

Heero stepped closer. 

" Wh-hat? W-what are you doing here?" He almost sounded afraid. And he was. Afraid that this was like the dreams he had been having of Heero every night, only to wake up and realize they weren't real, only to cry himself back to sleep again. 

In one swift movement the formerly Perfect Soldier moved forward wrapping his arms around Duo's sobbing form, scooping him up and holding him safe, stroking his hair. " Baka...stupid beautiful baka...." 

" Oh god....Heero..." Duo held on to him with all of the force he had left in his weakened form, let Heero hold him as he had always wished, let his tears soak into Heero's already damp tank top. Heero, in turn, craddled his slim form gently. If he had had wings, truely, he would have wrapped them around Duo. To protect him, to make sure no one ever hurt this gorgeous being who was the one happy thing in his whole life, who didn't deserve to be hurt. " ...it's you....is it really...it's you...."

Heero leaned down and tilted Duo's face towards his with a hand that was already half twined around him. He traced the line of his jawbone with a soft touch, and when he reached Duo's chin he pressed his lips to Duo's, bringing Duo into a full, passionate, and gentle kiss. Duo kissed him back with all of his heart, and Heero felt warm, salty tears slide into both of their mouths. Reluctantly almost, Heero broke the kiss, and moved back a bit so he could look Duo straight in the face. 

" Why...why are you crying?" He lifted a hand and brushed away the tears from his koi's eyes. 

" Because..." For the first time the American seemed at a loss for words. " Because I love you more than anything in the world, and I've dreamed about you ever since you left, and haven't stopped thinking about you since the first time we met...." He was interrupted as Heero kissed him again, softer this time. 

" Why?" Asked Duo, echoing Heero's question from before.

" Because." Heero whispered in his ear softly. " I am in love with you more than anything in the world."

" Ne, it's settled then." Despite it's waivery quality, Heero could sense a hint of Duo's old joking manner in the statement. He decided the best course of action was to kiss him again. Then he held his braided lover in his arms until he felt his chest rise and fall with sleep, and heard him snoring quietly. Heero swept Duo up in his arms and carried him over to the bed, where he pulled the covers up until they touched below his chin. Then he took off his shoes and lay down next to him.

" Heero?" The sleepy boy asked.

" Hn?"

" Will...will you hold me?"

" Of course." Duo couldn't even ask nani?' before he felt warm forearms encircling his waist and torso. 

" Ai shiteru, Duo."

" Ai shiteru, Heero." He managed to reply, before slipping into a peaceful rest, smiling for the first time in days, dreaming with Heero's arms around him, safe. Heero smiled back to the audience of moonlight and bedsheets, and pulled Duo closer as he drifted off as well. 

~Owari~

Author's note: About Heero's hesitation before shooting himself, you can believe that he heard Duo, or that Wufei's noise stopped him. Believe whatever you want to, although us hopeless romantics of the world will choose the first option!

So, what'd you guys think???? R&R PLEEEEASSSSEEEEE!!!!!!! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed this, and everyone who has supported me while I wrote it. Arigato from the bottom of my heart. 

-Zoogami


End file.
